USAV Spearhead (TSV-1X): High Speed US Army Transport
Ship

Items

See Also

Strolling down from the central business district of Hobart
during a break in a meeting I was startled to come around a corner
and see tied up at the dock the US Army's high speed transport
ship Spearhead (TSV-1X). The ship had been
competed a few days before at the Incat shipyards (Hull 60), a few
kilometres away and was preparing for departure. I snapped off a
few photographs and here also are a few items about the vessel. The
wharf is next to Salamanca Place,
a popular tourist destination.

Photographs

The ship as seen from the city streets

As seen from the adjacent wharf.

The loading ramp. Note the large low visibility US
Flag painted on the side. The ship is unpainted bright
aluminium.

Stern of the ship showing the catamaran hull form.

About the Ship

USAV TSV-1X Spearhead has been completed at the Incat
shipyard in Hobart to meet US Army requirements and delivered to
owner Bollinger/Incat USA for charter to the US Army
Tank-Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM).

High-speed sealift offers the opportunity to radically
change the character of water transport in commerce and military
operations. However, engineering and operational appreciation of
the capabilities, limitations, and factors associated with new or
emerging hull forms is not widely available. This presentation will
describe the first in a series of evaluations and analysis of HSS
platforms - the INCAT 046, a 91-meter wave piercing catamaran. The
program, sponsored by the Center for the Commercial Deployment of
Transportation Technologies, will document the instrumented
performance of varying high-speed platform designs to broaden
knowledge of HSS vessel capability.

PROGRESS TO DATE: The INCAT 046 evaluation and analysis was
held in the Spring of 1998. It was the first in what will be a
series of evaluations of existing and emerging HSS platforms. The
characteristics of the INCAT 046 catamaran make its use, as
currently designed and built, in support of long range military
deployments problematic. However, the instrumented data collected
during the evaluation provide insights into the potential this hull
form has for the design of a larger size vessel. Similarly, the
operational insights highlight considerations that will help
determine the potential military utility of this hull form. A
similar, but slightly smaller (86-meter) INCAT 045 (HMAS Jervis
Bay) is in use by the Australian military between Darwin, Australia
and Dili, East Timor.

The Theatre Support Vessel (TSV-1X) is a new high-speed ferry entering the Army's watercraft fleet. A communications upgrade is
required in order for this vessel to communicate adequately with all current systems Army wide and in Logistics/Joint Logistics Over-the-
Shore (LOTS/JLOTS) Operations. This contract addrsses the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and
Reconnaissance (C4ISR) requirements of the TSV-1X.

Delivery requirements under this contract will be multi-phases. Immediate Phase I requirements involve an update to the systems that
they are adequate for sailing from Hobart, Australia on 15 November 2002. Upon sailing, Phase I efforts will continue with completion
by or soon after arrival in the CENCOM AOR, at which time 1-week of hands-on experiential training will be provided.

Phase I requirements are included under Section C, and will include the following Operational Systems to be installed:
a) Harris PRC-150 High Frequency (HF) (1 each)
-Frequency ranges, 2 MHz-30 MHz
-Range, 400 miles
-Voice, Secure/Non-secure

b) Harris VRC-103 (3 each)
1) All three will be capable of Very High Frequency (VHF)
- Range, 50 miles

C-7 C4ISR ROOM. The C4ISR Room will consist of 1 each computer with NIPRNET capability, 1 each computer with SIPRNET capability, each computer capable of V-mail data with tactical radios, 1 each 3 draw safe capable of holding secret documents and Controlled
Cryptographic Items (CCI), 1 each secure and non-secured fax/printer/scanner, 1 each secure / non-secure telephone, 2 each full function
crew stations with speaker and H-250 handset and secure and non-secure video teleconferencing which is H-320 compatible, tactical radios
and equipment as listed in section paragraph 4 above, the INMARSAT system as defined in paragraph 5 above and an Identification Friend
or Foe System center around the APX-72 with the KIT-1C to be provided as GFE.

A C4ISR Industry for Tasmania?

As a result of the part sale of Telstra, Tasmania received
$40 million in funding for theIntelligent Island
Program. This program is designed to ensure
Tasmania's full participation in the information economy and
presents a valuable opportunity to make a substantial contribution
to developing an internationally IT&T industry in
Tasmania.

Assuming the success of TSV-1X, funding under the Intelligent
Island Program to build up local industry for the fit-out of
command and control systems for future ships in Tasmania. The
skills already available in Australia for the fit out of computers
and telecommunications in offices can be adapted for ships. US
warships, such as the USS Blue Ridge, have for
several years made use of commercial off the shelf computer and
telephone equipment, adapted for on-board use. HMAS Manoora and HMAS
Kanimbla have been fitted out with similar command and control
equipment in Australia.

Local innovations for shipboard fit out could use containerised
low cost super computers based on the the Australian National
University's
Bunyip, and Collaborative Visualisation rooms similar to those
being developed for the GrangeNet
project.